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Crooked political boss Paul Madvig is determined to back reform candidate Ralph Henry for governor after falling in love with Ralph's daughter, Janet. Paul's right-hand man, Ed Beaumont, believes the move is a big mistake and rightly distrusts Janet's motives. She is only playing along at Ralph's request; she is put off by Paul's crudity and becomes very attracted to the more eclectic Ed. He fends off her advances out of strong loyalty to Paul. The deluded Paul boasts that Henry has practically given him the key to his house; Ed warns him that it is liable to be a glass key, one that can break at any moment.

When Paul tells gangster Nick Varna that he is cleaning up the city and that he will no longer receive protection from the police, Ed grows even more concerned. Complicating matters further, Ralph's ne'er-do-well son, Taylor, owes Varna for gambling debts, while Paul's young sister, Opal, is in love with Taylor. When Paul finds out, Opal fears what he will do to Taylor.

Ed later finds Taylor's lifeless body in the street. Paul is the prime suspect, much to Nick's delight. When Nick hears that Ed and Paul have split due to Taylor's death, he tries to recruit Ed. Ed turns him down, so Nick has him brutally beaten repeatedly by his sadistic henchman Jeff to force him into revealing details of corruption to the editor of the newspaper Nick controls. Ed contrives an escape and is hospitalized. When Ed recovers, he learns that Nick has found a "witness" to Taylor Henry's killing, Henry Sloss. Paul has Sloss brought to his office, but he is gunned down before he can talk. As a result, Paul is indicted for the murder and held in jail.

Ed finds a somewhat drunk Jeff in a bar and tries to pump him for information in a back room. As they drink, Ed toasts, "Here's looking at you." Just as Jeff starts to talk, Nick shows up and brusquely orders him to shut up. When Ed disarms Nick, a fed-up Jeff strangles his boss. After Jeff is finished, Ed gets the waiter to call the police to arrest Jeff. Having finally guessed who killed Taylor, Ed persuades District Attorney Farr to arrest Janet. As Ed had hoped, Ralph confesses he struggled with Taylor, causing him to fall and strike his head. Afterwards, Paul overhears Janet tell Ed that she loves him and that she knows he loves her. Seeing that it is true, Paul gives the couple his blessing, but takes back his expensive engagement ring.

Dashiell Hammett's The Glass Key had been filmed by Paramount in 1935 as a vehicle for George Raft. They still had the film rights in 1941, when Alan Ladd impressed Paramount executives while shooting This Gun for Hire. Even before the film was released, head of production Buddy de Sylva announced the studio would star Ladd in his own film as a follow up. Hammett's reputation was strong in Hollywood following the success of The Maltese Falcon and Paramount decided on a new version of The Glass Key; De Sylva said the studio wanted a "sure-fire narrative to help him [Ladd] on his way".[3]

However these plans changed again - Red Harvest was postponed (it was never made) and The Glass Key was re-activated, with Donlevy and Ladd to star.[5]Stuart Heisler was assigned to direct.[6]

Paulette Goddard was originally meant to be the female lead but had to drop out due to other commitment. She was replaced at first with Patricia Morison, but after seeing Lake and Ladd together in This Gun for Hire it was decided to replace Morison with Veronica Lake.[7] Lake was going to be making I Married a Witch but filming of that was postponed when Joel McCrea turned down the lead role.[8]

The staff at Variety magazine gave the film a favorable review, writing, "Parading a murder mystery amidst background of politics, gambling czars, romance and lusty action, this revised version of Dashiell Hammett's novel—originally made in 1935—is a good picture of its type...Mixed well, the result is an entertaining whodunit with sufficient political and racketeer angles to make it good entertainment for general audiences. Donlevy makes the most of his role of the political leader who fought his way up from the other side of the tracks."[11]

Critic Dennis Schwartz wrote, "The film is mostly done for entertainment purposes, as it lightly skips over the corrupt political process as merely background for the unlikely love story developing between the engaging Lake and the deadpan Ladd. The film had many undeveloped film noir themes used by other films. Howard Hawks's The Big Sleep borrowed freely from The Glass Key."[12]

Critic Hal Erickson wrote, "Dashiel Hammett's The Glass Key, a tale of big-city political corruption, was first filmed in 1935, with Edward Arnold as a duplicitous political boss and George Raft as his loyal lieutenant. This 1942 remake improves on the original, especially in replacing the stolid Raft with the charismatic Alan Ladd...Far less complex than the Dashiel Hammett original (and far less damning of the American political system), The Glass Key further increased the box-office pull of Paramount's new team of Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake."[13]

^SCREEN NEWS HERE AND IN HOLLYWOOD: ' Red Harvest' and 'Connie Goes Home' Bought by Paramount for 1942 Production RISE AND SHINE' FOR ROXY Jack Oakie in Film Opening on Friday -- Ballet Stars in Two New Pictures By Telephone to THE NEW YORK TIMES.. New York Times (1923-Current file) [New York, N.Y] 02 Dec 1941: 29.

^News From Hollywood By Telephone to THE NEW YORK TIMES.. New York Times (1923-Current file) [New York, N.Y] 03 Jan 1942: 15.

^SCREEN NEWS HERE AND IN HOLLYWOOD: Henry Fonda and Don Ameche Assigned to Leading Roles in 'Strictly Dynamite' 2 NEW FILMS DUE TODAY 'Ball of Fire' Will Arrive at the Music Hall and 'Corsican Brothers' at Capitol By Telephone to THE NEW YORK TIMES.. New York Times (1923-Current file) [New York, N.Y] 15 Jan 1942: 25.

^SCREEN NEWS HERE AND IN HOLLYWOOD: RKO Gives James Craig Role Opposite Maureen O'Hara in 'One Hour of Glory' LEAD FOR VERONICA LAKE 'Roxie Hart' in Its First Week at Roxy Theatre Grossed More Than $70,000 By Telephone to THE NEW YORK TIMES.. New York Times (1923-Current file) [New York, N.Y] 26 Feb 1942: 15.

^SCREEN NEWS HERE AND IN HOLLYWOOD: Universal Gets Film Rights to Sherlock Holmes Stories -- 'China Sky' for RKO NEW FILM FOR THE PALACE 'Obliging Young Lady' Starts Thursday -- 'Woman of Year' Another Music Hall Hit
Special to THE NEW YORK TIMES.. New York Times (1923-Current file) [New York, N.Y] 10 Feb 1942: 25.